


Roommate Matching

by masi



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: College, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-23
Updated: 2013-11-23
Packaged: 2018-01-02 11:18:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1056141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masi/pseuds/masi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liu needs a new roommate. (gift fic for Tori)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Roommate Matching

**Author's Note:**

> For Tori, who requested college fic about Fukui and Liu.
> 
> Rated up only for language.

Kensuke is struggling out the door on a Monday morning, trying not to fall down the stairwell, when he smacks into something very tall and solid. A pillar, he decides, rubbing his eyes. But how did a pillar rise up on the stairs? Maybe he is still asleep, is having one of those bizarre, annoying dreams where he goes through his whole morning routine only to wake up and find out that he is still in bed and has to do all of those things all over again. 

He rubs his eyes harder. There was no time to make coffee this morning, the really dark and bitter kind of coffee, to chug it down before heading out the door. This is the last time he procrastinates on a ten page history paper. He had the whole weekend to do it, but of course he waited until late Sunday night to start.

The pillar shifts, speaks: “Fukui-senpai.” 

There is a slight hint of an accent embedded in the name, and Kensuke finally wakes up.

“You!” he says, rearing back. “What are you doing here?”

Wei Liu beams down at him. He looks taller, but that could be because Kensuke has become unaccustomed to this giant’s height. Liu’s bangs are a little longer, and, because of the harsh morning sunlight, his hair is the color of melted caramel or something equally sweet and pleasant and unlike Liu.

Last Kensuke heard, Liu had been accepted into several universities, places where the basketball teams are dedicated and hardcore about winning, where the team isn’t just a part of the campus to make kids who used to play basketball in high school continue to believe that they are actually talented. It makes zero sense that he would choose Kensuke’s middling university, an institution overshadowed by TouDai and known only for its History department and, occasionally, for producing graduates who become recurring guests on variety shows.

Keep it cool, Kensuke reminds himself. Maybe Liu is just here for a visit. He hasn’t brought any suitcases or boxes with him, only a cup coffee from Starbucks, a cup which he is extending towards Kensuke.

Liu wasn’t quite as generous back in Yosen. Maybe the one-year separation has taught him manners. He could be attending a neighboring university and stopped by to say hello to his former vice-captain. 

Kensuke takes a sip of coffee. A plain espresso, just the way he likes it. There is no need for Kensuke to think that Liu wants to move into his apartment. Besides, it is already three weeks into the semester. Everyone has already sorted out their housing situations. 

“I am looking for a roommate,” Liu announces. “You would do me a great honor by allowing me to stay in your apartment.”

Kensuke sighs. 

***

It turns out that Liu is not attending Kensuke’s university but one close by. Sharing an apartment is a viable option, according to Liu. 

“Where have you been staying for the past three weeks?” Kensuke demands, walking ahead and clutching the strap of his messenger bag to give off an air of being very busy. “Stay there until the term ends.”

Liu catches up to him in two strides, replies with a mournful air, “My roommate is a complete dick.”

This is the part where Kensuke says he doesn’t care and leaves Liu at the pedestrian crossing. Instead, he asks, curious, “Yeah? What did he do?” 

“He is a lazy jackass. He has burdened me with the duties of grocery shopping and cooking. Furthermore, he is a dirty person. Last night, he urinated in an empty milk bottle because he was too lazy to go to the bathroom.”

“Damn,” Kensuke says, and bites back a laugh. Laughing fosters intimacy, which can lead to people becoming roommates. Kensuke likes having a relatively large apartment in Tokyo all to himself. 

He has been saving up for his place since his third year at Yosen. He made a good sum of money by doing manual labor for his parents and relatives, petsitting spoiled pets, housesitting smelly houses, and babysitting spoiled children. His savings should last him a few more months if he continues to cut back on superfluous expenses. He walks everywhere instead of taking the bus, haunts internet cafes for the wifi, makes coffee at home. He has been eating instant ramen for three weeks now. Sometimes he feels a little nauseous, but the feeling passes as soon as he steps out onto his balcony, sits on the nice wicker chair next to his potted Japanese pierises, inhales in the warm, cozy smell of bread baking in the bakery across the street, and feels the not-freezing wind blowing through his hair.

“That is precisely why I need a new place to live,” Liu says. “Surely you understand.”

He is still using formal Japanese, even though he knows by now that Kensuke lied often in their years at Yosen about what constituted as proper Japanese speech and behavior. Maybe because he knows.

“No, I don’t understand,” Kensuke replies, and doesn’t ask if Liu got into a fight with the roommate either. “What makes you think I don’t pee in milk bottles? Or worse? Sorry, Liu, but you’re just going to have to bear it. That’s the only way to learn how to be an adult. Oh, look. There’s my university. Gotta go. Thanks for the coffee.”

He walks off, feeling only a little guilty.

***

Kensuke is on his way out the door for a much needed study break when he trips. He steadies himself by grabbing the wall. There is a basket, one of those big straw ones, lying on his doorstep. 

The next door neighbor, an Engineering major who moved in at the beginning of this semester and used to blare Arashi songs really loudly every night at 3 A.M. until Kensuke started tossing ramen cups into his balcony, stops to sneer and say, “Tripping over air now, Fukui?”

“Go eat shit.”

“Who sent you that, huh, your girlfriend?” Takahashi gestures towards the basket. “She probably can’t see very well. Why else would she like a bastard like you? Or is it from your granny?”

“When are you going to clean your dump of an apartment? I can smell the garbage from here. Or maybe that smell’s coming from you.”

After one last ferocious scowl, Takahashi turns on his heel and walks off. Kensuke hopes this neighbor stays for a few more years. He misses having someone to make fun of on a daily basis. Okamura only visits once a month, and it doesn’t feel right to call him a Gorilla when he is a guest in the apartment and only there for a few hours.

Kensuke returns to the apartment with the basket. It can’t be from his grandmother, though the big yellow bow tied to the handle says otherwise. The basket is filled with fresh fruits. That’s her idea of a good gift too.

He is about to call her when he spots the white card sticking out between the apples and oranges. He takes the card out, looks at the neat, careful Kanji, and sighs. Liu sent the gift. 

Underneath the “I hope you enjoy this present,” Liu has written, “I hope you will reconsider my offer.”

***

Three days after reuniting with Liu on the stairwell and one day after tripping over his gift basket, Kensuke wakes up to hear a rhythmic tapping on his balcony door. Pebbles, he realizes after a moment. Someone is throwing pebbles at his door. He pulls his bathrobe on, shoves his feet into his fuzziest pair of slippers, and then steps outside. 

“Senpai,” Liu calls, “were you sleeping? It is merely eight o’clock.”

“I was taking my afternoon nap, bastard!” Kensuke wants to throw something at Liu, but the only things at hand are his baby pierises, struggling upwards so sweetly in their little pots. “What are you doing here? Why didn’t you knock on the door like a normal person? Are you drunk or something? Don’t drink in your freshmen year, Liu, it never ends well.”

“Let’s go have fun,” Liu says. “That is what young Japanese men do, yes? We weren’t allowed to have any fun at Yosen. Such a strict school. No mixed dances, no unauthorized basketball games. I wanted to return to China after my first day there, but then I met you and Butt-Chin Gorilla.”

Kensuke wishes Liu had gone to Okamura’s university instead. Okamura was always the nicer senior. The juniors were more obedient to Kensuke, but Captain Okamura was the one they went to when they wanted coddling and affection. Liu always seemed more interested in the captain too. In fact, Liu was so prompt and dedicated about teasing Okamura that Kensuke was sure for a long time that Liu was in love.

However, Okamura isn’t here now, and Liu is asking Kensuke. A night out isn’t anything major. It’s not like signing up for two years of managing a bunch of rich, privileged teenagers or letting someone move in.

“This is the last time,” Kensuke warns. “And wait there.”

***

Liu spends the night alternating between telling Kensuke stories about the grand adventures he had with Himuro and Murasakibara last year and flirting with any and all girls he comes across. Most of the girls find his antiquated speech and height charming. Kensuke regrets telling Liu that Japanese men are supposed to start up a conversation with any beautiful woman they meet.

“Tokyo really is a wonderful place,” Liu announces at midnight. “I shall write a book about it. Perhaps I will dedicate it to you, Fukui-dono.”

“Don’t use dono,” Kensuke says, pulling him out of the club, “and you’re here to get a university degree and get better at basketball, not write about people!”

“One can do all three.” Liu fastens the buttons of his coat with deft fingers. There is a smudge of red lipstick below his left ear. “Besides, I will need a new career after basketball.”

***

Kensuke is near the gates of his university when Liu approaches with several bento boxes. “These are for you,” Liu says, pushing them into Kensuke’s hands. “I don’t like to uphold stereotypes, except in my speech, but you seem to be getting fat from ramen, Fukui-senpai. Thus, I took the liberty of cooking you a wholesome Mandarin lunch. This is a one-time event. Not all Chinese people enjoy cooking. Please enjoy.”

***

“I think he misses Okamura,” Kensuke says, inspecting a dumpling with his chopsticks. It looks better than the ones he had back when his father paid for all of his meals. “That’s why he’s plaguing me, right?”

“Hm, maybe he misses you both, and you’re just closer to his university,” Kasuga replies, smiling. 

Kasuga was Seihou’s Point Guard, and he still plays in that position. Number 5 jersey like Kensuke used to be, so his opinion is invaluable. Point guards in general are generally on point about their observations of people. Kensuke was happy to run into Kasuga last year, happy to know that they attend the same university. They meet up for lunch sometimes. The food is subpar compared to Yosen’s lunches, but Kasuga is good company. The only real fault Kasuga has shown so far is a tendency to get moony about his boyfriend, Iwamura. It’s fine to be a romantic sap within the privacy of one’s own four walls, but frequent mentions of how amazing a stoic, boring guy like Iwamura is and innuendos about how amazing his dunks are result in a very dull conversation. Kensuke wishes he had a girlfriend or boyfriend to moon over.

He says, pushing another bento box over the weatherbeaten picnic table, “You’re only smiling because you know Tsugawa will never make it to this place.”

“Shame on you. I love Tsugawa. He always keeps things interesting.” Kasuga opens the box, polishes off the rice, adds, “Wow, this is really good. Tell Wei Liu to cook for you more often. Remember to bring me a bento box every now and then, alright?”

***

Okamura calls on Saturday morning, says in a tone heavy with disappointment, “I hear you’ve been shunning our kouhai, Fukui.”

Kensuke pours extra detergent into the washer, slams the lid shut. “That brat went complaining to you? That’s unfair. It’s always me and him against you.”

“He put it on Twitter. He wrote, I quote, Senpai hasn’t noticed me. Have you been teaching him weird things again? His parents are going to be horrified when he returns to China with all of this incorrect knowledge about our country.”

“Then you teach him.”

Okamura gives a big, hearty laugh. Kensuke can’t help smiling. It really is too bad Okamura didn’t do well enough on the entrance exam for Kensuke’s university. 

“I’ve got the worser one,” Okamura says. “You should be glad.”

“You mean Himuro?”

“Yup. He keeps hanging around me and reducing my chances at getting a girl to zero.”

“It was zero to begin with.” Kensuke steps outside of the Coin Laundry. He can do his groceries while he waits for his load to finish. “But whether he’s the worser one or not is debatable. He’s not trying to move in with you, is he?”

“Look, Liu’s almost an adult now. You don’t have to babysit him. Don’t you miss the kouhai even a little?”

“No.”

“So mean! But you miss me, right?”

“Even less.”

“That really hurts! Then, why do you keep making me come over every month?”

“Because you don’t have any other friends.”

Okamura wails on the other end for a good three minutes. After Okamura hangs up with a tearful goodbye, Kensuke texts Liu.

***

Liu responds to the text by showing up in Kensuke’s apartment with two duffel bags. 

“When did I say you could move in?!” Kensuke snaps. “I told you to come over so that we could talk. Just talk. Consider your options, lay out some ground rules, that kind of thing.”

“I promise not to unpack until our talk is over,” Liu replies, placing the bags on the shoe rack. “But please keep in mind that I bid my former roommate goodbye by saying that I felt sorry for him because he is a small man in both height and dick-length, and I am not quite certain that he will allow me to return to the apartment.”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop picking fights with people!”

“You have quite a nice place.” Liu looks around with bright eyes. “Very clean. The rent I pay you will be money well spent.”

Kensuke had thought he would introduce the subject of rent - always a tricky, delicate topic - gradually. Liu’s candid talk is much appreciated. Maybe Liu will be willing to split the rent. Kensuke could really use that money. Since he has to put up with Liu anyway, it will be great if he gets some spending money out of this arrangement. He will finally be able to buy those amazing cupcakes baked across the street. To buy fresh vegetables and cook something on the stove instead of using it only to boil water. To take the bus to university and back home when it rains. To not have to start searching for a part-time job as soon as this term ends.

“You can stay,” Kensuke says, “as long as you don’t piss people off and leave me to clean up the mess.”

Liu holds out a hand. “I am not quite sure if this is a Japanese or American custom,” he says, “but let’s shake on it.”

Kensuke sighs before taking Liu’s hand. “And you’re not allowed to write about me in that future book of yours,” he says, squeezing Liu’s fingers. “At least, not by name. Or with any distinguishing markers that would cause people to believe that you’re talking about me.”

“Agreed,” Liu replies.

A few minutes later, Liu is puttering about the apartment, putting his thick International Law textbooks up on Kensuke’s bookshelf, tucking his clothes into the spaces in Kensuke’s closet, setting up his tins of green tea leaves - which he claims are from his grandmother's garden in Hangzhou - next to Kensuke’s stove, rolling out a futon next to Kensuke's bed. 

When he is finished, he asks, “When do I introduce myself to the neighbors?” 

“Never,” Kensuke replies, grabbing his jacket. “Let’s go have dinner. Your treat. Kouhai always have to treat their senpai. That’s how we do it in Japan, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Yes, Senpai,” Liu says.

**Author's Note:**

> Tori,  
> I'm so sorry that it took so long to post this story, and I also apologize if this isn't what you were requesting. For some reason, Fukui and Liu were harder for me to write than I had anticipated. I tried to write the characters based on a combination of their portrayal in the manga and the Replace novels, but they may have turned out very ooc. I wish there was more about them besides how they like to make fun of Okamura, especially for Liu! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed the fic at least a little. :)


End file.
